Mumbai: The Metropolitan Magistrate court, Vikroli has convicted 55-year-old Ghatkopar based doctor, Deepak Baid, for having molested a woman whom he had called at his clinic on the promise of giving her job in August 2021. The court said, “The act of demanding a massage from a woman who had come seeking employment falls squarely within the definition of sexual harassment.”
Sentence and Fine
The metropolitan magistrate, D.T. Patil, has sentenced Baid to two years imprisonment and fine of Rs 50,000, observing that, “Outraging modesty does not necessarily mean physical assault of grave nature. Even a single act of unwelcome physical contact intended to violate the dignity of a woman constitutes the offence.”
Abuse of Professional Position
“The medical profession is regarded as noble, and the accused, by his conduct, has abused the trust reposed in him. Instead of offering guidance for employment, he sought to exploit the complainant for his own gratification,” the court said adding that “such conduct coming from a person in a position of respect and authority, renders the act more reprehensible. It demonstrates misuse of professional status to harass a woman and take undue advantage of her vulnerable situation.” The court has said that out of the total fine amount Rs 45,000 is to be paid to victim as compensation.
Incident Details
As per the prosecution case, the mother of the victim was taking treatment from Baid. Since their financial conditions were not good, the mother requested the doctor for a job for her daughter, the victim. Baid asked the mother to send the victim to him for an interview on the next day that is on September 1, 2021 at 8 pm.
The victim in her testimony claimed that as she entered the cabin of Baid, he began asking questions on her education qualification and what she was doing. The victim responded saying she was taking training in salon. The doctor went ahead and asked if she has learnt to give back massage as the patient can be given the massage. The victim replied in affirmative after which Baid asked her to give him massage.
The victim claimed that the doctor later said that the massage is not done like that and started teaching her. The victim claimed that the doctor touched her inappropriately. He later asked her to not tell anyone and leave from the cabin after giving him a smile. The woman followed the instructions and left. She later narrated the incident to her mother. They later with the help of an NGO lodged the case.
Defence and Court Observation
The doctor in his defence however claimed that, no independent witnesses apart from the victim is examined by the prosecution and the case has been lodged after 20 days of the incident. He claimed that the CCTV footage of the area outside his cabin shows that there was no unnatural behaviour of the victim after she came out of the cabin.
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Mumbai News: Metropolitan Magistrate Court Orders Probe Into IRS Officer Sameer Wankhede’s Defamation Complaint Against Model Namrata ShroffThe court however said, “The essential incident of sexual harassment and assault took place inside a closed cabin, beyond the CCTV coverage.” The court accepted the victim’s evidence and observed that, “The accused has not offered any plausible explanation as to why the complainant, a woman seeking employment, would falsely implicate a doctor without reason. No enmity or motive for false implication has been established by the defence.”
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